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Gilberto quick off the mark

Arsenal FC's Gilberto scored the fastest goal in UEFA Champions League history.

The concluding night of Matchday Two was a record-breaking one for Brazilian midfield player Gilberto who scored the fastest goal in UEFA Champions League history as Arsenal FC ended their away-day jinx in style at PSV Eindhoven.

Del Piero eclipsed
Gilberto, part of the Brazil side which won the FIFA World Cup in the summer, capitalised on a typical piece of Fredrik Ljungberg industry to put the English champions ahead after 20.07 seconds. The goal beat Alessandro Del Piero's for Juventus FC against Manchester United FC in October 1997 by five-hundredths of a second.

Early goals
In the first decade of Champions League football only ten goals were scored during the first minute of play, and in only four of those ten matches did the team scoring the early goal go on to win the game. However, further strikes from Ljungberg and Thierry Henry, who scored twice, secured Arsenal's first away win in this competition since they accounted for Olympique Lyonnais in February 2001.

Dortmund hold on
Arsenal top Group A from BV Borussia Dortmund who held on to beat AJ Auxerre 2-1 at the Westfalenstadion. Jan Koller and the fit-again Marcio Amoroso established a comfortable cushion for the German side before Benjani Mwaruwari gave Auxerre a glimmer of hope in the 83rd minute.

Crespo clincher
Lyon instead flew the flag for France as they thrashed Rosenborg BK 5-0. Paul Le Guen's side struck four goals without reply in a virtuoso opening 45 minutes - Eric Carrière, Tony Vairelles (two) and Sonny Anderson on target - before Péguy Luyindula completed the victory after the break. Internazionale FC top Group D, however, after Hernán Crespo took his tally to three in two Champions League games with the only goal against AFC Ajax at San Siro.

Roma held
Following victories for AC Milan and Juventus FC on Tuesday, AS Roma would have made it a clean sweep for Italian sides had they defeated AEK Athens FC away in Group C. However, the Greek side proved an equal match for their Roman visitors, the defences dominating in a 0-0 draw.

Madrid on fire
Real Madrid CF, the reigning champions, lead the section with maximum points after showing why they remain the team to beat by thrashing KRC Genk 6-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu. Didier Zokora's 44th-minute own goal precipitated the rout and five Madrid players subsequently got on the scoresheet in Michel Salgado, Luis Figo, Albert Celades, Guti and Raúl González. With two wins and nine goals scored, who needs Ronaldo?

Liverpool held
While Madrid were scoring at will, Liverpool FC, another illustrious name in European football, continued to struggle to convert chances into goals. The English side dominated their fixture against FC Basel at Anfield but were denied maximum points when Argentinian forward Julio Hernán Rossi cancelled out an opening goal from Milan Baroš.

Valencia on top
Goals from Miguel Angulo, Mista and Juan Sánchez sealed a convincing away victory for Spanish champions Valencia CF against FC Spartak Moskva in Russia in the other Group B game.

Ten fastest goals in UEFA Champions League history:

PosNameClubAgainstDateTime (secs)
1GilbertoArsenal FCPSV Eindhoven25/09/0220.07
2Alessandro Del PieroJuventus FCManchester United FC01/10/9720.12
3Mariano BombardoWillem IIAC Sparta Praha20/10/9928.21
4Alexandros AlexoudisPanathinaikos FCAalborg BK22/11/9528.46
5DecoFC PortoMolde FK26/20/9930.08
6Andreas MöllerBV Borussia DortmundJuventus FC13/09/9537.04
7Vratislav LokvencAC Sparta PrahaFC Spartak Moskva03/11/9942.58
8Pavel NedvedS.S. LazioBayer 04 Leverkusen27/10/9943.25
9Kakha KaladzeFC Dynamo KyivRSC Anderlecht18/10/0044.00
10Sonny AndersonFC BarcelonaManchester United FC 25/11/9850.75

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